Removable truck-body.



:[F. AVERY.

REMOVABLE TRUCK BODY. APPLICATION FILED EC. 22.1917.

IF'. AVERY.

REMOVABLE TRUCK BODY.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22. I9I7.

. vIllllll III ,II l,II II L F. AVERY, nEMovABLE-mum Bonn mimic/T1014FMD Dl 22. 19m. Y l

. ,Pa'ented Leb. 11, 19,10.

6 SHEETS-*SHEET 4.

ZET/dead@ Y @1. F. AVERY.

HEMOVABLE TRUCK BODY.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.22.191r.

Patented Feb. 1L ENQ.

6 SHEETS-*SHEET Haw i, l'. V

SVIVBLE RUCK, BODY.

APPLICAUQN m50 nic. 22. 10:7.

laened Feb. 11, 1919.

6 SHEETS-*SHEET 6.

main driving gear for removing the body, and the sector arm for raisingand lowering i this gear.

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 8--8 of F ig.2.

Fig. 9 is a perspective detail View showing the locking means forholding the body against rearward movement on the chassis frame.

F ig. l() is an elevation showing my invention applied to a truck havinga plurality of removable bodies thereon.

Referring to Fig. l, A represents the loading platform against which thetruck, represented generally by B, may be backed in order thattheremovable body C may be rolled from oil' the truck onto the platform.The platform atits forward edge is provided with the recess l, upon thebottom of which is placed the metal plate 2, to prevent undue wear uponthe material at the bottom of the recess. lt will be noted that thisplate 2 is formed at its forward portion with the downwardly extendingflange 3, thus providing a structure that will readily guide the beveledend 1lat the rear of the chassis frame into position so that the trackupon which the body wheels roll will be in proper alinement with theupper surface of the platform A. The truck is of the usual typecomprising the customary wheels 5 and drivers seat 6,

lReferring to Figs. 2 and 3, the upper portion of the chassis frame 7vhas secured thereon a track comprisingthe rails 8, which rails, as willbe noted, are provided upc; each side of each thereof with theopstanding flange v9, and the fiat web portion lll. rlhese rails arealso outwardly flared at their rear ends as indicated at ll (see Fig, 2)for the purpose of more readily guiding1 the body wheels into properposition when loading the body ontcjythe frame. seen in Fig. 3, theremoiable body4 is provided on its under surface with a plurality ofwheels 12, which wheels are suitably jourualed in the boxes 49 (bestseen in Fig. 5) which will be more fully described later. The floor ofthe body is designated at la, and is braced by suitable cross braces 15and the longitudinal beams 16, against the under faces of the latter ofwhich extends from end to end of the body flat metal plates l?, thefunction of which is to greatly increase the rigidity of the body. Asseen in Fig. 3the rails 8 are secured upon the beams 18, which are inturn mounted upon. the upper surface of the chassis frame 7. As pointedout above, the rear end of the chassis frame at each side and directlyunder the rails, is provided with the bevel d to aline the rails 8 withthe upper surface of the platform.

Referring to 2, it'will be seen that adjacent the rear end of thechassis frame located` a structural frame work, comprising the crossbeam 19, and the longitudinallylextending beams 20 vand 21 extendingfrom the cross beam 19 to the end beam 22. lilithin this structuralframe work is suitably mounted the mechanism for moving the bodylongitudinally of the chassis frame, and which mechanism will now bedescribed. It will first, however, bepointed out that eX- tendinglongitudinally and centrally of the underneath side of the body andprojecting a substantial distance from the front end thereof is the'straight rack 23 (see Fig. Li) which raclr is driven .by the maindriving gear 2d see Fig, Power for driving the gear. 2d is supplied by acrank applied to the end 25 of the shaft 2G (see Fig. 2) which shaftextends a suitable distfmoe through the. side of the chassis frame, andis mounted at its outer end in the bracket 27. Upon the inner end of theshaft 'ZG is fixed 'the pinion 27, which pinion in turn meshes with thegear wheel 28 suitably keyed to the shaft 29, which shaft is journaledadjacent its ends in the beams 20 and 2l. Also keyed to rotate with theshaft 29 and approximately midway between the beams 2G and 2l is thepinion 30, which pinion meshes with the main drive gear 24 to impartrotation. thereto. It will thus be seen that hy rotation of a crank uponthe outer end :25 of the shaft 26, rotation will be iinparted throughthe train of gears just described to the drive gear 24, which will inturn drive the rack 23 and cause the body C to move longitudinally inthe desired direction along the track 8. rhe rack 23 and gear 2d areeach provided with. a shroud 'to prevent crowding of the teeth.

lin loading and unloading thesekbodies Onto or from the truck frame, itmay often occur that there will be uneven places i n the pavement uponwhich the truck wheels rest, or that one platform may be slightly higherthan another, -both of which features, to gether with others notmentioned, ina cause the drive gear 2l to assume various ieights withrelation te the rack 23, thus making it possible Ythat if suchdifferences in height were very great, trie drive gear 2i might bethrown entirely out of engagement with the :rack 23. .ln order t@ enablethe drive gear d to he made to mesh with the rack 23 at all times, andin all vertical positions of the rack 2S, l have provided a noveladjusting means which 'if will nolw describe.

Referring 'to Fig. 6, the drive gear 24 is mounted upon the shaft 31shown in dotted ,on eachside of the drive gear 2l. These sector arms arein' tiirn rotatably mounted upon the shaft 29 and at each side of thepinion 3G. Formed upon the outer face of ite ""hrtnigh the side t thesector and t'or the greater lenmth et their lower portion are the teethl n in turn mesh. with the pin! n pinions are suitably keyed ilse keyedto the shaft 35 is 3G, which in turn meshes 31?' mounted upon the Shaftlit siown in Fig. 2 extends the chassis frame, and is supported at itsouter end in the bracket 'l-ie outer end ot the shaft 38 is formed witha squared or otherwise suitahiy d l 2G upon which may be I. .2 willen hLU' engligement a cranlt hanto met used for driving the i tach the sainecrank` may be interchangeafbly upon each of the ends 25 andai-59. litwill lus be seen that as the shaft 38 is rotated by this crank arm, mo-

tion will he in tried through the pinion 3'? and 36 the pinions 34, therotation oit f ich will cause the sector arm 32 t@ elevated or lowered`according to the direc.. oil rotation ot the crank handle. r@ance the 24as stated above has its shaft,

secured at its enter end the Finse upon the inner end of 0 and inposition to engage the the pat/vl 42, which as shown in suitably termedat its end to come into loeltinp; engagement with the teeth ot the Thispawl is held in locking engagement with the pinion teeth. by the prinp;which encircles and is suitcr, t ably secured upon' the shaft 40, and toremove the pawl 42 from engagement with the pinion 3'?, it l.will benecessary to overcome the tension in the spring` by appro priatemovement of the handle 41. This I av/l will be held out of engagementwith pinion 3"? during the time which is required for the verticaladjustment of the drive gear 24, y will he released and the pawl 42 willassume its locking; engagement with the pinion 37, thus turn insuringthat the gear will be held at the proper elevation to ei'ieetively 'meshwith t` roch 23 on the underside of order to relieve any twisting whichthe handle 4l fains the elevation or depression of the drive gear 24,there. are provided two of the sector arms 3:2 located one on each sideot the drive gear 24.

lin order to hold securel the body from any vertical movement witirelation to the frame after being placed in its inal posi tion, thereare provided the tapered rearwardly extending hooks 44, 45, 4G and 4'?(see lig. 2) the former two orp which are located adjacent the front endot' the chassis Jframe, and the latter two of which are located adjacentthe rear end oit' the same.

-t'eterring to F 3 and 5, it will be seen that-these hooks are formed toengage with the perforated ears 48 upon the forward longitudinalmovement of the body. rEhe ears 48 are preferably formed integral withthe lower portion of one ofthe journalv boxes 49, in which journal boxesrotate the axles 50 of the wheels 1:2. lt will thus be seen that as thebody moves through the last few inches ot' its travel toward its finalposition, the hooks 44, 45, 46 and 4'? will enter the 'perforated ears48, and thus hold the body securely against any vertical movement withrelation to the chassis trame.. lt is to be especially noted inconnection. with the hooks 44 and 45, that they are located one on theoutside of one ot the rails and the other on the inside ot the other otthe rails., and that the rear hooks 4G and 47 are -located on theopposite side ot the respective rails, the purpose tor which is topermit the oars 48, which are to engage with the hooks 44 and 45, topass the hoolrs and 47 while the ears are traversing this particularpart of the track, thus eliminating the danger ot' the ears for thefront hooks coming into engagement with the rear hooks while they arepassing the saine. The hooks as shown are secured in position bysuitable fastening; means, such as bolts or the like, indicated at 51.

l will now describe the locking means provided for preventing an. Yrearward movement oit the body after eing placed in proper posit/ionupon the tr ck. Secured to the under side ot the cross 'beam 52 are thestraps 53 (see Figs. 4 and 9) which straps arebent to provide thesuitable eye lets 54, in which eyelets are Xedly held the short rods 55;there beingA one of these rods lined upon eachside of the rac-k 23, as

shown in Fig. 4, and as also seen in this igure the rods 55 are sopositioned. in the ears 54 that they will present the extending portions56 beyond the outer ear 54. Secured upon the vupper side of each of thetrack rails 8, and as best seen in Figs; 2 and 8, are the straps 57,which straps are bent back upon themselves to torni the eyelets 58, inwhich eyelets are journaled at its respective ends the shaft 59, whichas shown entends across from one rail to the other 59 bracket 70.

vte

at their forward ends. Keyed to rotate with the shaft 59 and adjacentone end thereof is the bell crank 60 best seen in Fig. 9, and which bellcrank comprises the two arms 61 and 62. The arm 61 is formed at itsupper outer corner into the hook 63, and at its extreme outer end intothe beveled plain surface 64, which plain surface, as shown in Fig. 9,is formed with an upward inclinationftoward the front end of the truck.

As the projection 56 ofthe stub shaft 55 moves forwardly with the body,it will ride over the beveled surface 64,4and thus depress the arm 61 ofthe bell crank, which after the end 56 has passed thereby will flyupwardly under the action of the spring to be later described, and ythuscause the hook GB to come into engagement with the eXtension 5G, andlock the body against any rearward movement with relation to the chassisframe. Upon the end of the shaft 59 opposite from the bell crank 60 isprovided a locking device 65 similar to that just described, with theexception that the' arm 62 of the bell cranlt has been omitted, thestructure otherwise being the same as that described in connection withthe arm 61.A

The provision of one ofthese locking devices upon each side insures amore perfect and positive iock than' if only one were used. n

Connected to the lower end of the arm 62 of the bell crank (3d-byavpin'joint is the rod 66, which as' seen in Figs. 2 and 3, extendslrearwardly through suitable apertures in the beams 18 to aipoint closelyadjacent the operating shafts 26 and 38. At its rear end the rod 66 ispivoted lto the inner end of the handle 67, which handle is pivoted at68 in a suitable manner frame 7. The rod G6 towards its frontend hasfixed thereon the collar 69, which collar in turn abuts against thebracket 7), through the upper end of slidably passes. Encircling the rod66 and located between the collar 69 and the plate 71 the coil spring72, the function of which is to impel the rod (3G in the rearwarddirection, and thus hold the collar 69 against the By this arrangementit will be seen that upon movingr the outer end of the lever 67rearwardly, the rod` 66 will be moved for-` wardly against'the tensionof the spring 72, and the hook 63 will in turn be lowered in an obviousmanner to free the projection 56, and thus permit the body to be movedlongitudinally of the chassis frame. Immediately upon the release of thehandle 67, the rod '66 under will be moved rearwardly and'return thehook 63 into its locking position, so that when a body is again movedforwardly on the chassis frame, it will be locked in p osito the chassiswhich bracket the-rod the action of the spring 72 tion immediately uponthe passing ofthe extension 56 over the bevel face 6ft, and intoengagement. with the hook 63, this hook under the action of the spring7'2, immediately flying upwardly as soon as passed by the extension 5G.An important feature in connection with this locking arrangement is thatthe handle 67 forv operating the same is positioned. closely adjacentthe ends 25 and 39 of the operating shafts 26 and 38 respectively,whereby the operator-may stand in osition to turn the cranks upon theends of the shafts 26 and 39 and without moving his position may graspthe handle 67 to free the locking device at the front; thus eliminatingany necessity of the operator leaving the position from where heoperates the mechanism to move the body on the frame, and have to walkaround the front end of the truck in order to release the locking'mechanism.

It often occurs a single load may have that different portions of to bedelivered at dif- -ferent destinations, which if only a single body wereused would necessitate the standing idle of the truck while thislfractional part of the load were being removed. ln order to eliminatethis loss-of time, I have provided an arrangement which7 as seen in Fig.10, comprises the use of a plurality of of additional hooks and pertoprevent the bodies from moving in a vertical direction with rela-- tionto the chassis frame. Another valuv able feature of this use of aplurality of smaller bodies on a single trip is that oftenn timesgtheavailable space in a warehouse or theifke through which one of thebodies will haveto be rolled is so small and necessitates such shortturns as would be embarrassing were a long body being manipulated insuch confined quarters. By providing of shorterbodies, they each be veryreadily manipulated in a very small space.

and the further provision of the neca plurality f As shown in Figs. land 10, an opening is provided in the rear of the seat 6 into which theprojectingl end of the rack 23 may pass when the body is in its forwardposition.

AHaving now described my, invention, i'. claim 1.111 a freight truck, atruck frame having a surface adapted to support a movable body frame, abody frame movably supported thereon, a rack on one frame, and a' pinionon the other frame and movable with relation to said surface, wherebysaid pinion may beV made to engage or disengage said rack.

2. In a freight truck, a truck framehavpending in pairs from said body,a wheel journaled between each pair of said boxes, a

nally onto said frame.

l5. In a freight-truck, a truekfframe, a wheeled body niovably mountedthereon, a rack mounted below the body, a yoke pivoted on thetruck-frame, a pinion carried by the yoke to drive the rack, a secondpinon mounted. coaXially with the yoke pivot and intermeshed with saidirst pinion, means 'for actuating said second pinion, and Ineens forraising and lowering the yoke to engage and disengagel said irst pinionwith and from the rack.

16. In a freight-truck, a truck traine, a

wheeled body movably mounted thereon, a rack mounted below the body, ahorizontal drive shaft, jonrnaled on the truck-frame, a yoke having oneend pivoted on said shaft, drive pinion onthe shaft, a second pinioncarried by the yoke; driven'by said first pinion, and engageable withthe rack, and

means for raising and lowering the free end of the yoke.

.17. ln a freight truck, a truck frame, a body frame lnovably supportedthereon, a rack mounted on one frame, a pinion mounted on the otherframe, movable toward and from the rack to engage and disengage with andfrom the rack, and means for locking the pinion against movement, saidmeans including a second pinion; 'and a pawli .adapted to releasablyengage the teeth of said second pinion to loch said first mentionedpinion against movement.

In witness whereof l hereunto' subscribe my naine t this speeioation.

IRVING F. AVERY.

